


The Life of Jodie Wilona

by Artrriony



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Humor, OC is like Keith, Won't exactly follow the plot, no i'm not, sorry about that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-16 13:17:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9273482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artrriony/pseuds/Artrriony
Summary: Jodie Wilona was your normal Galaxy Garrison student until she found herself flying through space in a castle-ship with five robotic lions. Jodie must get used to the fact she left her old life behind for a treacherous one, fighting Galra and risking her life.





	1. Missing the Old Days

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter and basically a filler. I know, so boring. I just needed to explain some things before we jump into action!
> 
> Enjoy!  
> https://youtu.be/lu3VTngm1F0  
> ^this is like Jodie's theme song I guess^

* * *

~*-------------------------------------------*~

 

_'How did I get here?'_

Washed out arguing could be heard in the background while another muffled voice quickly tried to extinguish it.

_'Just how did it come to this?'_

 

 

~*backstory time*~

 

Jodie Wilona was your average broke, almost-adult, Galaxy Garrison student who could barely scrape by with what she had. Life hadn't been too kind to this 19 year old Alaskan girl.  **Desperate times called for desperate measures.**

Jodie wasn't ginormous but she wasn't short either, her body was blessed with feminine curves and she had long, luxurious dark brown hair that cascaded down to almost the small of her back. Her skin was pale, having lived in Alaska the majority of her early life before her foster parents kicked her out. it was a dramatic climate change, one that she had yet to get used to, when she moved down to Arizona. Her face had a sharp jawline and cheekbones, and her pale lips were plump. Unfortunately, Jodie had been cursed with a Barbara Streisand nose. Other than that she was confident, what with her thick, long lashes and well-defined brows. Her cat-like eyes held light brown irises that seemed to shine even in the dark.

To sat she was confident with her looks would be an understatement, and she was proud of that. Her breasts weren't huge, but they weren't small, and words cannot describe the amazing mess of what is her butt. Her tummy was flat, and she had a well-toned, muscular body. She worked damn hard for it too.

Jodie lived in a small apartment complex about an hour away from the Garrison, she lived outside of the Garrison because her apartment's rent was cheaper than her school. Although it was cheaper, it didn't mean she had the money for it. Jobs seemed to elude poor Jodie and she was running out of options. She had to think of something quick, because the payment was due by the end of the month.

Jodie had a tough facial expression, she looked as if she was always angry. If looks could kill, she would have accidentally killed everyone in the near vicinity. Of course, she wasn't the nicest person in the world- her childhood had made it that way, but that didn't mean she was a terrible person. She was just a little rough around the edges. Despite that, she made friends. Her first friend at the Garrison had been someone she came to know as Takashi Shirogane. He was the top-dog, the perfect example, the gold sticker of everything he did. No wonder he was sent into a deep-space mission, but that's something she tried to keep in the back of her mind. Her second friend was a little more like her, Keith Kogane. Your typical bad boy, loner type. He seemed super unapproachable but in all reality- she thought he was just as cool as Shiro. He was stupidly smart and was the best fighter pilot at the Garrison, he just didn't act like it. Keith always got into fights and Shiro and herself always seemed to be patching him up.

Push came to shove and Jodie found herself alone again. Shiro had left for his mission, promising big Keith and her that he would return, and Keith managed to get his sorry-ass kicked out of the Garrison. After a while, Jodie had managed to scrape up new friends: Lance McClain, an annoying boy who was absolutely terrible at flirting, Hunk Garett, a cute, chubby sweetheart, and Pidge Gunderson, a super-nerd for anything related to technology. Of course, Jodie did not have the same connection eith these three as she did with Shiro and Keith but she loved them all the same. Having friends didn't help with her financial crisis though, and she wasn't one to ask for help. More pushing and shoving came along and Jodie found herself working at a gentlemens club as an exotic dancer. It wasn't a title someone could nonchalantly flaunt around, but it paid the bills. What else was she supposed to do? Every other business turned her down, she needed the money.

 

 

~*timeskip*~

 

Jodie wiped the sweat from her brow as she came backstage in the dressing rooms for the girls. "You did good girl, as always." One of the other dancers smiled at Jodie as she Wilona asked towards the stage.  _'I know I did.'_ Jodie smiled to herself as she went to get cleaned up. As she freshened up her makeup, she heard her phone buzzing from beside her- barely audible due to the blaring music.  _'Shit.'_ She mentally cursed, it was Lance. She quickly snatched up her phone and ran as fast as her heeled feet would take her out the back door, or just standing near it. The manager wouldn't let the girls go outside on their own without a bouncer. "Why the hell are you calling me Lance!?" She glared at the ground. "Jodie, um- what's that noise?" Lance could hear the music and cheering muffled through the phone, "Shut up and tell me what you want, I'm busy." Jodie placed a hand in her waist as she put her weight all on one leg. "Oh uh, we kind of need your help."

"Lance I swear to god, if this has to do with another one of your stupid ass pranks I promise I'll-"

"No! Jodie, listen to me! We really do need you, Pidge found something and it's super weird. You need to be here." Jodie sneered.  _'You're so lucky my shifts over.'_ She thought, before telling Lance she's on her way. Based on how desperate Lance sounded, Jodie didn't have time for anything. Jodie cursed under her breath the whole time as she threw on a pair of black joggers over her lingerie bottoms and a leather jacket to cover her brassiere top. She didn't have time to take off any makeup as she switched her heels to sneakers and ripped everything out of her locker, slamming it shut. As she made her way to the door, she slung her bag over her shoulder and tied up her hair into a sloppy bun. "Bye Ms. Wilona." The bouncer who had walked her to her car she could finally afford, waved her goodbye. "Bye Bruce, see you later." She quickly threw everything in the passenger seat of her car and took off towards the Galaxy Garrison.  _'If this isn't good, I'm going to beast his ass.'_ She grumbled as she thought of Lance.

 

 

~*whoopee another timeskip*~

 

Jodie got out of her car and sped to where Lance texted her to go. Since she already parked relatively close, she left everything in her car- including her cellphone. She made it to where Lance so desperately called her to, just in time to be barreled into by the Cuban boy himself. "Oh shit, I'm sorry Jod-" Lance almost got choked on her own spit when he caught sight of her. She gave him a skeptical look before looking down. She realized she never zipped up her leather jacket.  _'Shitfuck.'_ She swore to herself as she quickly covered herself up. "If you say anything I swear I'll castrate you." Lance nodded frantically, but had an obvious blush on his tan cheeks. "What's so important that I had to race here?" She complained, that seemed to knock some since into Lance. "Oh! Yeah, Pidge got a weird signal and got this video feed from that place down there," he pointed to a tent looking thing that was further down the mountain. "Pidge said that's Shiro is in there." He finished, Jodie's eyes went hue. "Oh my god, what!?" She panicked, "He's dead!"

"Apparently not." Hunk corrected, before he had to chase after Pidge, Lance, and Jodie who took off for the tent. The group was almost there when Lance slowed down, "Wait! We don't have a distraction!" He yelled. "Who the fuck cares!?" Jodie glared back at him, before stumbling when a loud explosion shook the ground. Shiro was too important though, Jodie couldn't chicken out- she began to run again. "Wait Jodi-" Lance caught sight of someone else speeding towards the tent, "I'd know that mullet anywhere."

Jodie saw them too, because a wide smile spread on her face. The person managed to get inside before them but Jodie was right on their trail. By the time Jodie was inside, there was one man in a biohazard suit left standing, the rest knocked out on the ground. Before the person could get to him, Jodie roundhouse kicked the guy in the side of the head. Needless to say, he went down. The person turned to look at her, but their eyes soon widened when they saw who she was. They pulled down the bandana covering their mouth, "Jodie!?"

"Keith!" She smiled, in all honesty, she thought she would never see his sorry-ass again. Both their eyes went serious again when Shiro mumbled something, they quickly went him up. Keith had draped one of Shiro's arms over his shoulder while Jodie did the same on the other side. "Oh no no no no, you're not saving him. I am." Lance came storming in like he was the Great Cornholio himself, Pidge and Hunk soon followed. Before Lance could come any closer, Jodie shot him a glare, "Fuck off Lance." She began leading Shiro out of the tent to get away, Lance looked scandalized but knew better than to mess with Jodie when she gave you one of those glares. **He learned his lesson.**  Lance pouted but followed behind the two, Pidge and Hunk looked at each other before shrugging and tagging along.

Keith and Jodie managed to get Shiro up on Keith's hover bike, before getting on themselves. By that time, the rest had caught up and looked confused. "Can this fit all of us on it?" Hunk asked, with Keith replying bluntly, "No." Jodie softly punched his shoulder, before motioning for the others to get on. "Hurry up cause we gotta go." She encouraged, as Garrison soldiers began to appear on the horizon. Keith took off.

The Garrison were catching up, "Can't this thing go any faster?" Lance complained, "We can throw out some non-essential weight." Keith suggested with a smirk. "Right," Lance looked around, "oh I get it, that was an insult." He glared at Keith. Jodie rolled her eyes. "Big man lean left." Keith called out, as the Garrison were gaining on them. "Big man lean right." The ground was running out, "Are we gonna jump it?" Jodie enthusiastically asked, "Yup."

"Fuck yeah." The rest of the group wasn't so enthusiastic, "You're gonna kill us!" Pidge yelled. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge screamed as Keith flew them over the edge. Jodie closed her eyes and laughed. Keith felt a small blush come to his face,  _'Focus man.'_ He chastised himself.

 

 

~*at Keith's luxurious shack*~

 

 _'And I thought my place was trash.'_ Jodie laughed to herself as she looked around Keith's home. She passed by a shelf with very little stuff on it, but one thing caught her eye. It was a picture frame. In the picture it was Shiro, Keith, and herself. She remembered this, it was Jodie's 19th birthday. She had a smile on her face, as well as Shiro. Hell, even Keith had the smallest of smiles. As Jodie reminisced, she hadn't realized Keith had woken up. Keith watched her for a moment, before getting up and going outside to see what Shiro was doing. Jodie had heard something rustle and turned around to see Keith walk out the door. She took one last look at the frame before making her way to the door, she couldn't help but overhear what the two boys were saying. "Do you remember anything?" Keith had asked, "Not much, bits and pieces really. It's all scrambled." Shiro looked up at the stars. "It's good to have you back." Keith glanced over at Jodie by the door and motioned her over to come stand with them. "Yeah, it's good to be back." Shiro continued to stargaze. "I can tell you one thing," Jodie's voice entered the conversation, and Shiro snapped his head in her direction, "we missed you buddy." She smiled at him as she stepped closer. Jodie stopped in front of Shiro, before being swallowed into a hug by said man. "Jodie!" He said her name so fluidly on his tongue, like it was just yesterday when he would call out her name from down the hall at the Garrison. "What's shakin', Shiro?" She joked, as he shook his head laughing.

Keith stood back, remembering how much he  **missed the old days.**


	2. Not as Strong as You Think

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jodie and the Paladins make it to the castle of lions and everything is explained to them. Jodie finds out something isn't quite right with her, and Shiro and Keith get to apologize for the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second chapter! This one took forever, and I have no idea why. It got a little feelsy in this one too. Jodie's not as tough as everyone thinks. Anyway...
> 
> Enjoy!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buicV2vGmbg

 

~*___________________________________________________________________________________*~

 

Jodie surveyed the closed in area. Right now, Shiro, Keith, Hunk, Pidge, Lance and herself were flying in the sky- and Lance was the pilot. Now, everyone knew Lance was  _not_ the best best pilot, in fact, he was terrible. Poor HUnk was on the urge if getting sick and Shiro had hit his head one too many times on the roof. Pidge gripped onto Lance for dear life and Keith almost looked as red as his jacket, he looked ready to pounce. Jodie held onto the back of Lance's seat as she tried not to fall her ass. :Guys, personal space here. Except you." Lance turned his head and winked at Jodie, but received a slap on the back of his head. "Ow! 'Kay I'm sorry!  ~~worth a shot.~~ " He mumbled the last part.

"Lance if you don't shut the fu-"

"Guys!" Shiro yelled, "everyone needs to just calm down. We're stuck on the lion and there's nothing we can do about it." The group went silent but Jodie was still upset. "Hey um guys? I think this lion is trying to talk to me." Lance glanced back at Shiro, 'I can't hear anything." Pidge noted. "I think it's going home." He whispered, as he let go of the controls and the lion took off.

 

Soon, the lion entered the atmosphere of an unknown planet and came near a large castle. "Oh I knew it! This is bad!" Hunk complained. The lion landed and opened its mouth, letting the group out. "N-Never mind." Hunk looked away with red cheeks. Jodie immediately started walking towards a giant entrance, tired of waiting- Keith watched her walk forwards and quickly went to catch up with her. This action mostly went unnoticed except for Shiro, who let a half-smile grace his face. When everyone made it to the entrance, a blue light scanned over them before opening another door. Jodie entered without hesitation and began to travel through the castle, scanning every nook and cranny for something unusual.  _ **Everything was unusual but she looked for something unusual and**_ **dangerous.** Soon the group found themselves in front of what seemed to be a control room.  _'Is this thing a ship?'_ Shiro thought as he looked around.

As Jodie continued forward, two tubes came from the ground in a puff of steam, once it faded away Jodie's eyes went wide. 'What the hell?" She mumbled, everyone looked away from what they were previously studying and reacted just the same. Two people were in the tubes. Lance walked up to the tube of a woman,  _'Of course,'_ Jodie rolled her eyes. He stared up at her and let out a "manly" yelp when the tube opened and the woman fell into his arms. "Father!" The woman gasped, still seemingly dazed. "Who are you? What's wrong with your ears? They're so ugly." She commented when she looked up at Lance. "No their not, and they heard everything you said about them!" He whined.  _'Thank God.'_ Jodie thought Lance was going to flirt, but didn't get the chance due to the insult.

Unexpectedly, the woman grabbed onto Lance and turned him around in a tight grip, "Who are you people?" The woman panicked. "Hey, hey calm down. I'm sure we can work this out, just let us introduce ourselves." She seemed to think it over before finally letting her arms fall to her side. Lance quickly scrambled over to hide behind Jodie, who immediately pushed him away. "My name is Shiro, we mean you no harm, I promise." Hunk took Shiro's silence as a means to continue, "My name is Hunk, n-nice to meet you." He quickly looked at Pidge. "My name's Pidge." Pidge wasn't the best at introductions, but at least she wasn't Lance. "My name's Lance, the smartest, cutest, most handsome man out of this group  _with great ears._ " Lance took a breath to keep going, but quickly shut his mouth when he got an elbow slammed into his gut. Lance deflated onto the the ground as Keith introduced himself, or at least tried to. "My name's Keith, uh yeah." He felt his cheeks warm so he urged Jodie to finish it up. "Name's Jodie." The woman had been staring at Jodie ever since she hit Lance, she eyed her with weary curiosity. Jodie leaned on one leg and had her arms crossed tightly across her chest. The woman finally snapped out of it and shook her head, "I am princess Allura, and this is my castle." Her voice had lowered from her before frantic one, she now had a confident and leader-like posture.

Before anyone could say anything else, the other tube opened and a tall,  very skinny man with bright orange hair and a curly mustache fell out. He looked around before spotting the group. "Oh my ge-" He quickly pranced over to Lance, as he happened to be the closest, and got into a fighting stance. Lance quickly followed, before they started swinging wimpy hits at each other- spouting utter nonsense that Jodie managed to block out. Allura's face went blank, "That's Coran, my royal advisor." Over the racket, Coran heard the princess and stood stock-straight. "Yes, Princess who exactly are these.. other beings?"

"Humans." Pidge said.

"I beg your pardon?" Allura questioned as her and Coran studied Pidge.

"We're called humans, we came from Earth." Jodie sighed and leaned to the other leg, Shiro glanced over at her and thought a person could never sound as uninterested as Jodie did. 'Well," Allura cleared her throat, "I apologize for my behavior earlierm I was just a little conf-" She went silent like she suddenly realized something terrible, before turning to Coran quickly. "How long were we in those pods!?" Coran soon understood the princess' urgency and strided over to a control panel across the room. The control room was deafened by silence as everyone waited. "Princess, we've been asleep for 10,000 years!" Coran whipped his head towards Allura, she remained frozen in place, seemingly in denial of what she had just been told. "What I would give to sleep that long." He mumbled, but unluckily for him, Jodie was close enough to overhear his complaint. She slowly turned her head in his direction and stared him down like a hawk. Lance began to sweat and held his hands up, "N-No Jodie, I-I-I take it back. Jodie please, Jodi-" She cut him off with a " _light"_ punch to the shoulder. In her eyes, her overreacted- but in Lance's, he thought Jodie had just dislocated his shoulder. 'I can make that happen Lance." She harshly whispered to him, but if he listened close he could hear the lack of malice behind her threat. Before he could respond, Shiro had silently slid himself between the both of them and nonchalantly gripped both of Jodie's arms and held them in place. Allura surveyed the group confusedly.  _'What an odd bunch. That one seems quite the troublemaker,'_ she referred to Lance,  _'and I believe I should stay weary about that one- she seems close to a threat.'_ Allura took a step away from where Jodie stood glaring at Keith. Why, because Keith was the only one she could see due to Shiro's broad shoulders blocking the others. To Allura, it seemed as though Shiro and Keith had gotten used to this type of behavior from this girl, as if they had been together for a long while. Due to the fact Shiro had been unfazed with the way Jodie fought, and Keith;s lack of flinching when Jodie shot him a deadly glare.  _'What interesting interactions.'_

 

 

~*time skip of introductions, info, and more important info because I'm lazy*~

 

 

"-and finally, Jodie. You may not pilot a Lion, but there is something special about you." Allura explained hoping Jodie would target her anger towards her. "Indeed, that is quite true. I suspect your quintessence is abnormal." Coran added in.

"Thanks." Jodie kept a blank face.  _'Why am I even here then? There's no point, but I guess it's better than drowning in debt.'_ Jodie mused, as she leaned back onto her other leg, "So, we need to fight these bad guys called the Galra?" Lance questioned, as he looked between the two Alteans. "Yes, you must learn to form Voltron and save the universe." Jodie smirked as she watched the others sweatdrop, looks like she was in the clear. "Jodie, you will be joining in with the Paladins in training," She slowly blinked her eyes as she sighed, "fuckin' shit." Jodie mumbled under her breath, but Shiro gently elbowed her and scolded, "Language." Jodie rolled her eyes, if she kept this up her eyes might just fall out.

"I suggest you all get some rest. Training will begin tomorrow. Coran, could you show them to their rooms?" With a nod, Coran headed to the entrance of the control room and motioned his hand for them to follow. Once they were all shown to their rooms, Coran made his way back to whatever he had to do.

Jodie surveyed her room before walking into what she assumed to be a bathroom. She looked at the shower, contemplating whether or not to get in, "It's not like I'm doing anything." Jodie shrugged before messing with the knobs controlling the water. With some difficultly, Jodie finally managed to get the water on with the right temperature. She shrugged off her, what could barely be considered clothes, before neatly folding them, placing them on the counter. Jodie stepped into the steaming water before closing her eyes and wetting her hair. Throughout her time in the shower, Jodie pretended to be back in her apartment and not somewhere off in space. Everytime she thought about not being on earth, Jodie's stomach would clench and her hands would get clammy.

 

_**Jodie wasn't as strong as people made her out to be.** _

 

She took a deep breath and shook her head, before taking a step out of the shower. Jodie then realized she forgot a towel, "Shit." She mumbled. Hoping she didn't have to leave the bathroom soaking wet, Jodie looked around the room before thankfully finding a towel under the sink.

Once Jodie was dried and dressed, she walked out into her room and, again, surveyed the entirety of it. She went and sat down on the edge of the bed provided before flopping backwards to look at the ceiling. Having nothing to do, Jodie laid there- left to her own thoughts. Before she could doze off though, there was a knock at her door. Not expecting it, Jodie jolted up and swung her head in the direction of the entrance just in time to see Allura stepping into her room. "I am sorry to disturb you, but I came to inform that dinner is ready. If you would," Allura jestered for Jodie to follow as she began heading down the hall. "I thought it would be best to lead you there myself, seeing as this castle is a new location." Jodie listened, but kept her eyes forward. Already being wary of Jodie, Allura nonchalantly took a step away from her. "It is right through this entrance." Allura entered the room before Jodie followed. She seemed to be the last one to arrive, Jodie looked and saw familiar faces watching the food as if it was a foreign creature. By its appearance, Jodie thought it might as well could be an alien. Jodie sat on the edge of the table, not right next to her friends and not next to Alteans. Just as everyone tried to dig in, the groups's hands suddenly connected by a band on their wrists. Due to Jodie being on the edge, she casually watched her friends struggle. She turned her blank eyes over to Coran, who explaining the situation and raised one of her brows. Coran and Allura looked away uncomfortably before continuing the explanation. Push came to shove, literally, and everyone found themselves on the ground laughing. Instead of dinner, the group decided to throw their food at each other including the Alteans. Jodie managed to walk away from the nonsense unscathed- she already took a shower, no way was she going to get that goo on her. She sighed as she made her way back to her room.

 

Honestly, how does someone get a black eye from a pile of goo?" Pidge laughed, as Lance covered gus swollen eye and pouted. 'Hey! This is Jodie we're talking about! She's a monster." Lance tried to cover for himself but the group laughed, "It's kind of your fault anyway Lance, you tried to hit her with goo."

"I know all about that." Keith mumbled as Shiro and himself walked ahead of the group. "Don't we both." Shiro chuckled. A frown soon came to his face as he thought about how he left Keith and Jodie alone for so long. Before Shiro could apologize to Keith, he saw Keith had the same expression. He as well felt bad. Shiro left them, Jodie had to deal with that loss, but on top of that Keith left her too. Jodie had been completely abandoned. The boys felt terrible considering Jodie went through the same thing with her family. Quietly, Keith and Shiro conversed about how they should apologize to Jodie.

 

 

~*time skip to the next day*~

 

 

"Rise and shine Paladins! It's time to train!" Allura's voice rang throughout the castle, stirring the Paladins.

 

"Ugh, 10 minutes." Pidge grumbled and pulled the covers up.

Hunk let out a moan before hiding his face in his pillow.

Lance slept through the whole thing.

Keith had just finished getting ready.

Shiro had been up hours before that.

 

The group made their way to the control room to meet with the princess and Coran. 'Alright, today you will be going over the basics of Altean training. Coran and I will survey you all and guide you thoughout today's session." The group agreed. some more willing than others. As the Paladins made their way to the training deck, Hunk noticed that Jodie was nowhere in sight. "Hey, um guys? Has anyone seen Jodie?" The group sweatdropped as they realized they completely forgot about her. As Shiro turned to go find her, everyone once again heard Allura's voice coming from the training deck. "Jodie? How did you manage to turn on the fighting sequence?" Allura seemed genuinely confused. There was no answer as metal against metal clanged together. The Paladins quickly ran into the training deck to see Jodie fighting what seemed to be a giant robot. "What in the hell?"

" _Language_ Pidge."

Jodie had a plain face, as if this fight did not faze her. With a final blow, Jodie managed to slice off the robot's head. The robot soon disappeared and Jodie relaxed. She heaved a breath before turning to look at the group watching her incredulously.

 

_**This was going to be a long day for Jodie.** _

 

 

 

~*another time skip because my laziness is no joke*~

 

 

"I am pooped." Lance exclaimed as he fell into his chair. Although everyone else agreed with him, they didn't voice it. "Paladins, you have done well. Including you Jodie." Allura smiled towards Jodie in hopes of getting on her good side. Jodie slowly blinked at the princess before nodding and looking down at her hands. Shiro got Allura's attention and gave a look that said 'that's about as much as you'll get from her'. In turn, Allura nodded and waited for Coran to bring their dinner.

"My, mu. A truly healthy Altean dinner for a long days work!" Coran said excitedly. Hunk poked at the food before shaking his head. Jodie paid no attention to Hunk and Coran arguing. Jodie sighed as she continued to examine her shaking hands. She never really knew why her hands shaked, they just kinda did? Jodie was lost in thought once an improved dinner was placed in front of her. Hunk began to eat while Coran pouted in his seat. Jodie slowly picked up the fork provided and began to take small bites of her food. It wasn't half bad. With a shrug, Jodie continued to eat her dinner without as much caution. Shiro had seen the whole thing and grinned to himself. He really did miss Jodie, but she seemed different somehow..

 

Once Allura and Coran excused themselves instead of making their way to their rooms, the Paladins decided to chat in the living space. Lance immediately flopped onto the the love seat and lounged across it. Hunk and Pidge sat next to each other on the left side of another couch, while Shiro sat on the right. Keith leaned up against the wall while Jodie sat on the arm of the love seat Lance so gladly claimed. They sat in a comfortable silence before Shiro cleared his throat, "How has everyone been so far?" He didn't want to ask upfront on how everyone was taking being however far from home in space with aliens. The group voiced their opinions, while Keith shrugged and Jodie spoke to Shiro through her eyes. Her eyes could tell stories, Shiro quickly understood what Jodie was trying to convey without words, 'I don't know how to handle this'. Jodie held herself up and remained strong on the outside, while she trembled and shook on the inside.

A somewhat normal conversation ensued between the group before Shiro dismissed them for bed. "Jodie can you come here for a second?" Shiro asked, Keith knew exactly what was going on and walked closer to the couch while Shiro stood up. Jodie's aura had visibly changed, instead of her blank, intimidating features, Jodie had relaxed her muscles and a wave of friendliness and trust washed off of her. Jodie looked up at her best friends with curious cat-like eyes, waiting for an explanation. "Jodie, I know you already know this, but we just wanted to remind you on how sorry we are about before." Shiro explained, the boys watched her expression fall. Her eyes suddenly found her shoes more interesting than anything, "Guys, I-I know you're sorry. I understand why you left but I was alone," Jodie looked at them, "I was alone. I had no one. What was I supposed to do, both of my best friends just up and disappeared. I, I just missed you guys so much and now that we're here together: I-It feels so surreal." Jodie took a deep breath and waited for a response. Shiro's own expression fell as Keith looked away. "J-Jodie, we're really sorry. It, it was still unacceptable for us to leave just like that though." The other three Paladins would of had a conniption fit if they heard Keith talk so easily. Shiro and Jodie were unfazed though, they knew each other like the back of their hands. Keith felt safe and comfortable with his best friends. "I know Keith, I just want to put this behind us. We're all here right now and that's all that matters.  _The family is back together_." Jodie tried to joke at the end but it came up dry- they all still laughed though. With apologies and explanations out of the way, the three said goodnight and headed towards their rooms for the night.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, glad that's over! I hope you guys liked this chapter. Introductions and beginning information is finally over and we can start the drama!


	3. It Has To Be Nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, the chapter is going to have a lot of time skips. Things are starting to get angsty so I wanted to skip the unnecessary parts of this chapter. I mainly wanted to focus on Jodie and her little "problem".
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g21jLYn73A&index=234&list=PLmUC9inN6GnB8UFcfU9FQspPDulmwYHEd&shuffle=23008

 

~*____________________________________________________________________________________*~

 

Jodie shot up out of bed, sweat dripping down her face. She tried to calm herself and put her clammy hands over her quivering eyes. Jodie had had another stupid nightmare.

 

_It always start out with her as a child, playing with her parents. She had to watch them die, live through her terrible life with her foster parents and then everything afterwards made no sense. There were constant flashing lights, weird buzzing and the golden aura around her. She would always see new bruises on her and her head felt like it would split open._

 

Jodie always woke up either sweating, crying, screaming, or all of the above. Jodie trembled as she got up and headed to the shower. Jodie gazed into the mirror after washing her face: she looked terrible. Dark circles pulled her eyelids down, her face was pale, and her lips were chapped. That was the case when she had nightmares. Jodie shook her head to clear her thoughts before removing her clothes and stepping into the shower. As Jodie washed away her stress along with the conditioner form her hair, she reached for a weird Altean soap. She lathered herself with this, but soon dropped the bottle onto the floor having it spill everywhere. Jodie's wide eyes stared in horror at the purple, almost black bruise forming on her forearm.  _It looked just like the one from her nightmares._ Jodie immediately jumped out of the shower and threw on her clothes. With heaving breaths, she took a seat on the edge of the bed, head in her hands.  _It was nothing, No big deal,_

**_It had to be_ ** _**nothing.**_

 

 

~*short time skip*~

 

 

"Jodie? Are you in there?" Jodie's head jolted up as she watched her door, listening to Shiro's calm voice. "It's time for breakfast." She quickly wiped at her eyes and brushed through her hair with her fingers, "Y-Yeah, I'm coming."

_'Damn it.'_ She cursed, she sounded weak. Thinking Shiro had left, Jodie opened the door and almost ran into Shiro. "Woah there," he chuckled but it soon faded, "Is everything alright? You don't look too good." He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well thanks. Not everyone can look as good as you tough guy." Jodie rolled her eyes jokingly, hoping to get the topic to something else. Shiro took note of this and let it go. "Let's go meet everyone else, they're already at breakfast." The two old friends made their way towards everyone else. It was a comfortable silence, but Jodie was focused on something else- Jodie was worried about the events of earlier that morning. "Hey, Jodie?" A metal hand waved in front of her brooding face, successfully getting her attention. "We're here." Shiro's voice had an underlying tinge of worry for Jodie but made his way to his seat anyway. Jodie followed suit and took a seat.

 

Breakfast went by without a problem, but then again, Jodie wasn't really paying attention. The only reason she knew breakfast was over was because Jodie heard the legs of the chairs scraping the ground and everyone leaving. Jodie sat there a little longer, running her fingers gently over the bruise she covered with her sleeves, before standing.

 

 

~*time skip*~

 

 

Jodie stood motionless in the corner of the training deck. It wasn't her turn to train, so she was waiting. The Paladins were struggling with defeating a level 6 training bot, and their strength was quickly dwindling. Jodie faintly heard the shouts of her friends, but didn't make a big deal of it until a giant spear whizzed by her head, grazing her ear before lodging itself into the wall behind her. Jodie put her hand up to her ear and looked at the blood covering it, as soon as she looked back up she saw the bot barreling towards her. Her eyes widened, as all noise around her was muffled. Jodie saw nothing but the bot running her way.

Jodie turned around to face the wall, and with insurmountable strength, Jodie ripped the spear from the wall. Just in time, Jodie threw herself to the ground while the bot rammed into the space where she was just standing. The foundation around it crumbled and bits of it fell on top of Jodie. Before anymore damage could be done, she rolled away from the bot and stood up. Once she turned to face it, her legs were harshly swept out from under her and Jodie's shoulder slammed into the ground. With a grunt, Jodie got up again and blocked another hit with the spear. Jodie dodged the next attack and jumped up onto the bot's back. Sensing this, the bot flung itself upwards, almost sending Jodie flying off. Jodie gripped on and pulled herself up to its shoulders. The bot reached up and grabbed onto the spear, flipping Jodie over to its front. The other hand reached for Jodie, but she swung herself around the spear, landing back on its shoulders and the spear was at its neck. With her remaining strength, Jodie threw herself backwards while still holding on tightly to the spear, and managed to get the bot to decapitate itself. Jodie hit the ground, the spear and head landing on either side of her. Just at the bot tilted back to fall on top of her, it disappeared.

Jodie opened up her blurry eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "Fuck my life."

 

"Oh my God! Jodie are you okay?"

"Jodie!"

"Holy shit!"

"Jodie, are you alright?"

From the ground, where Jodie remained laying, she sluggishly lifted her arm to give them a thumbs up, before her hand fell back by her side. Jodie saw a metal hand above her, she took it gratefully and let Shiro help her up. "Are you sure you're okay?" He rest his other hand on her back. "Yeah, I'm fine." Jodie frowned, keeping her head down. In fact, Jodie felt like shit: her head was killing her, her back hurt from the foundation that fell on her, her shoulder felt dislocated, and her ear was still bleeding pretty bad. "Jodie!" Everyone turned their heads towards the entrance where Allura and Coran hurriedly entered. "We must get you to a healing pod." Allura insisted, Jodie slowly shook her head, "I'm fine princess." Jodie began to try and walk away but stumbled on her own feet. Before she fell, Shiro scooped her up into his arms and began walking in the direction of where the pods were. "Shiro," Jodie started with a threateningly low voice, "I'll hurt you if you don't put me down." Shiro continued to walk, "Do that after you get fixed up."

"I'll fix  _you_ up Shiro, don't you worry about that." Jodie grumbled, but only received a chuckle from Shiro.

 

The entire trip to the healing pods, Jodie complained under her breath that she was fine, but her whining was ignored. Finally, Jodie let out a sigh as she was put into one of the pods. The last thing she saw was her friends staring comfortingly at her, before everything went dark.

 

 

~*with the Paladins*~

 

 

"Jodie doesn't accept reality very much anymore. She tries to act like everything is fine even though she's crumbling. I can see it, you can see it. Jodie's not the same." Shiro had been whispering to Keith as they watched Jodie. The other three Paladins had backed off a little and began their own conversation. It was chilling just to look at her, it was a good thing Jodie hadn't had a chance to see herself, Shiro thought. Jodie was bruised and had scrapes along her arms and face. She had fresh blood running down the side of her neck from her ear- the damage to her ear was almost sickening. The spear did more damage than they originally thought, there was a giant gash that left space in between the cartilage and earlobe. Shiro could only hope that that would heal. At least Jodie wasn't in pain anymore..

 

**_But they couldn't be farther from wrong._ **

 

 

~*dream world time*~

 

 

Jodie squeezed her eyes shut before cracking them open to check her surroundings. Something wasn't right, where was she? Everything was dark, nothing was around her. She slowly got to her feet, stumbling a little, before looking around her. "H-Hey, anybody h-here?" Jodie weakly called out. Man, she sounded like shit. Jodie put a hand to her aching head but still continued to try and find someone. A quiet ringing started in her ears, before gradually getting louder and louder. It wasn't helping the headache whatsoever. Lights began to flash around Jodie as well, they looked a lot like the yellow stuff from.. her dream. Jodie's eyes widened as she looked down at her arms to find them covered with the same bruises as in her dreams. Jodie tried to calm her breathing before she started hyperventilating, trying to focus on finding someone else. "Hey! Hello? Is anybody there? What the fuck is going on?" Expecting silence, Jodie jolted when she heard a voice respond.

_"You will find out in dear time."_  A harsh, raspy voice entered Jodie's ears before the ringing got even louder. Soon it became unbearable, it felt like she would go deaf. Jodie fell to her knees and covered her ears. "S-Stop it. M-Make it s-stop." Her shoulders began to shake and tears peaked their way through Jodie's closed eyes. Creaking could almost be heard, with how hard Jodie was clenching her jaw. As soon as it started, it stopped.

 

Jodie's eyes shot open and she let out a gasp. Before she could comprehend what was going on around her, she found herself falling out of the healing pod into someone's arms. Panting, Jodie slowly lifted her gaze to look directly into Keith's lilac eyes. He had a look of genuine worry as she held onto her tightly, as to not let Jodie fall. "What just happened?" Jodie asked groggily, still being disoriented from the pod. "You just came out of the healing pod, everything is okay." Keith assured but Jodie still looked concerned, "Where's Shiro? This is very important.." Keith was puzzled but called Shiro over. "What is it Jodie, is someth-" Shiro let out a wheeze unable to continue when Jodie socked him in the stomach. "I said I'd fix you up Takashi." Jodie smirked at Shiro, still leaning on Keith for support- who just so happened to be trying really hard not to laugh. "W-Well at l-least we know you're b-back." Shiro rubbed his stomach, "Pretty much," Jodie laughed but soon began to frown, "My ear still kinda hurts." Both Shiro and Keith brought their gaze to Jodie's ear, that was no longer ripped in half. It wasn't as bad as before, but there was still a gap in between her cartilage and the bottom half of her ear: it just wasn't bleeding profusely now. Unfortunately, that was something that couldn't be completely healed. Based on both their expressions, Jodie felt her stomach drop and quickly brought her hand up to touch her ear and felt the gap. "Holy shit," she mumbled, "What the fuck did that thing do to my ear!?" Jodie suddenly felt a hand pull her own away from her ear, Allura had quickly appeared in front of her. "Jodie, I'm sorry but the damage was too great to completely fix the wound." Allura was still a little weary of Jodie so she let go of her arm and to a couple steps back. "W-What the hell do you mean? I'm just going to have to walk around with my ear fucking cut in half?" Jodie looked almost scared.. _almost_. "Jodie, _language_ please." She took a deep breath to calm herself, then looked back up to Allura with a more calm face. "I'm afraid not." Jodie sighed, but nodded her head. "I think I'm going to go to my room if it's all the same to you guys. I still feel kinda weird." Keith helped her stand upright then watched her, along with the others, walk out of the room.

 

Once Jodie heard the door to her room shut, she almost sprinted to the bathroom. She had to see this for herself. She placed both her hands on the counter before looking up into the mirror.  _Her ear looked like shit._ "Oh my God." Her eyes were wide, they were right. Jodie slowly reached up to her ear again and ran her finger over the gap. In an instant, everything flashed for a second. She saw her dream but it was different somehow, she saw the bruises and everything but she also saw a cloaked figure smiling at her. Once her vision went back to normal, Jodie flung back from the counter in to wall behind her. "What the  _shit_ was that!?" Her heart was pounding against her chest and her ear started to hurt again, but she also felt her arm throb- right where the bruise was. Looking down at her arm, she expected to only see one bruise, but now there was one horizontally running across her hand. It almost looked as if she broke her hand. Jodie brought her eyes back to the mirror and watched herself.

 

**_'Fuck.'_ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter was a little shorter, but I felt that this could be a good stopping point. The best way to end a chapter is with profanity so why the hell not? I plan to add even more angst in the next chapter. What great times.


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